Forget about jellyrolls, a new patent published by General Motors reveals that it doesn’t just want to give you a snack-shaped battery, anymore. Instead, it wants to feed you a whole meal.
The automaker has designed a new way to package battery cells which it believes can significantly improve performance. This would do away with the old industry design standard of a “jellyroll”-style battery where the anode and cathode are wound together to resemble a tasty Swiss Roll cake and instead assemble the layers of prismatic cells into more of an “Inverted-U” shape—kind of like a taco.
Photo by: USPTO
General Motors – Inverted U Battery Cell Design
Jellyroll-style battery stack geometry is nothing new. French physicist Gaston Plante designed the first rechargeable battery using this design method in the 1850s, meaning that the design methodology has been around for nearly two centuries. That’s not to say that advancements haven’t been made, but GM’s patent looks to improve upon this by taking advantage of non-cylindrical cell packaging.
Now, the end result isn’t about satisfying a craving (unless, of course, you’re a battery engineer). GM says that this new packaging style improves one of the most challenging parts of battery design: thermal performance.
Photo by: USPTO
General Motors – Inverted U Battery Cell Design Thermal Performance
GM claims that by orienting the cell geometry in an “Inverted- U” shape, the battery cell experiences better heat dissipation. This aids in longevity and charging performance, and could also help avoid phenomenons like thermal runaway. The automaker also claims that this could help reduce cell size which would help bring prismatic cells closer to the energy density currently held by tried-and-true cylindrical cells.
In case you haven’t noticed, GM has been on an all-out battery war recently. From dropping the Ultium branding from its future portfolio to completely scrapping a “one-size-fits-all” mentality for batteries. The automaker is dead-set on making more affordable EVs to compete with the inevitable threat of cheap battery-electric cars pouring in from overseas. This patent is yet another way that the brand might achieve its goals—if the tech is worth producing and GM can overcome manufacturing challenges to make it a reality.
Nothing is set in stone, though. Patents don’t necessarily mean that tech will make it to production, but advancements in the industry are always welcomed. And if EVs are going to continue to become more mainstream, we already know that battery tech is still in its infancy and is one of the key areas that needs work.
